AA (#AA.) – recommended 35p per share offer from TowerBrook & Warburg Pincus

AA (#AA.) – 35p per share possible cash offer proposal, has indicated it would be willing to recommend

Before the flood...is the AA the most embarrassingly prolonged takeover of 2020?

So hello to a new lockdown in England from Thursday. I know technically it is a 'lockdown lite' but you can guess the likely impact on the more cyclical and lockdown impacted sectors come tomorrow's markets.  But that is the markets for you.  We all know the voting machine investor is everything in the shorter-term...so I look forward to battling with opportunities and threats and considering whether to get greedier as others get more fearful. To be honest, I cannot see gold being displaced as my largest sector allocation.  

AA (#AA.) – takeover panel deadline extension as discussions with a consortium “have continued positively and due diligence is on-going”

AA (#AA.) – offer extension to 5pm on 29th September as “discussions with each of the potential offerors have continued to progress”

The AA & oh-so-clever hedge fund-style shareholders v. oh-so-clever private equity potential business purchasers...

I have never owned or - to the best of my knowledge - written about AA plc (AA.). Briefly last decade I was a member before an alternative breakdown service was bundled into my bank account but I remember thinking it was a bit of a rip-off back then. Obviously some people (Neil Woodford) did not think it was a rip-off and built up a large double-digit percentage stake before having to admit it was yet another mistake...

AA plc (#AA.) – refinancing update, including possible offers for company

AA (#AA.) – updates on response to Covid-19, though notes to date “has not impacted… materially”

AA (#AA.) – argues FY growth in ‘trading EBITDA’ & FCF generation in line with expectations & “remains on-track with its strategic plan”

October performance update: start of 2019 top shorted London-listed shares

Early this year we showed the top shorted London-listed shares at the start of 2019. How's the performance at the end of October? (those in bold remain from 2018)...

AA (#AA.) – trading EBITDA ahead of last year, though “as with previous years… expect performance to be weighted to the second half”

AA Group – actions of a well-run company?

AA Group (AA.) has caused Neil Woodford a spot of embarrassment before. After all, he cornerstoned its IPO at 250p but profit warnings and the slashing of the dividend have seen the stock down to 46.66p even though Neil knew best all the way down as he hoovered up more stock at 166p after the profit warning September 2017. Last Friday saw a TR-1 from AA Group…..

AA (#AA.) – “trading in line with expectations” & argues “remains well positioned to deliver… targets”

AA (#AA.) – “FY results in line with previous guidance”, notes “regulatory pressures and continued competitor activity”

Lessons from AA plc

It never ceases to amaze me what Private Equity firms get away with. We are warned constantly that buying from them often ends in tears but, like moths to a light, the investment community cannot resist handing over other people’s money to them at crazy prices. It looks like Uber and Airbnb are lumbering onto the runway. In 2004 private equity firms, CVC Capital, Permira and Charterhouse bought the AA (AA.) from Centrica for £1.75 billion. Ten years later they borrowed vast amounts of money and paid themselves £2.5 billion in “dividends”…

AA (#AA.) – ‘Roadside’ paid membership base -1%, overall “remain on-track”

AA (#AA.) – FY adj. EPS +2%, lower DPS “until profit and cash flow enables a change in the policy”

73 Mind-Blowing Implications of Driverless Cars and Trucks - car crash ahead for the AA, BCA and others?

Hat tip to Andrew Monk of VSA for spotting this paper from Hult Business School. It does give you food for thought. Certainly why would anyone invested in a heavily indebted business with bigg exposure to the carrying value of cars as we known them ( Northgate or BCA Marketplace for example) or the AA? Maybe Neil Woodford should read this and ponder before he buys any more shares in the AA or BCA? 

He cannot help himself can he? #NeilWoodford buys more #AA after latest profits warning. Clown.

House broker Cenkos (Lagos) on the AA - Neil Woodford's disaster of the week

As I write shares in AA Group (AA.) are down by 23% at 89p and you will never gbuess which high profile fund manager is a major holder, largely for the dividend income. Yup you got it, its Neil Woodford and yes the dividend is being slashed.